Archiwalia Państwowego Banku Rolnego jako źródło do badań nad historią gospodarczą polskiej wsi i rolnictwa w I poł. XX w.

Abstract

Archival materials of the Polish Agricultural Bank as a source for research on the economic history of the Polish countryside and agriculture in the first half of the 20th c. The body of work of historians regarding the Polish countryside and agriculture in the first half of the 20th century is relatively extensive. The majority of studies on farming primarily address the post-war period, discuss the interwar period to a lesser degree, with barely touching upon the Nazi occupation. The situation is similar when it comes to publications regarding particular areas of agriculture and the means of production. Unfortunately, what those publications have in common is that none of them uses materials connected to agricultural banking. The objective of the article is to encourage those who study or intend to study the economic history of the Polish countryside and agriculture of the first half of the 20th century to research the records of the State Agricultural Bank (1919–1949) kept by the National Archives. Analysis of the publications related to the State Agricultural Bank (hereinafter the PBR) and the archive materials connected with its activity, kept by the National Archives, suggests that: 1. The BPR had a key role in implementing the farming policy of the national authorities and was crucial to the development of agriculture and the countryside; 2. the legacy of the PBR in the National Archives is remarkably vast (tens of thousands of archive units) and covers a wide range of issues, from banking through the development of farming to the situation in the countryside in the first half of the 20th century; 3. the vast credit records of the PBR kept by the National Archives offer a wide range of possibilities for the researchers focused on the economic history of the Polish countryside and agriculture, as they provide a plethora of interesting information on the situation of agriculture and farmers between 1919 and 1949.